Great Strides at White Water Shaker Village

The woodworkers who are restoring the White Water Shaker Village are making significant progress , just in time for the Woodworking in America tour of the village on Oct. 3.

Newly built and authentic windows are going in on the first floor of the Meeting House, which completely changes the appearance of the historic structure, both outside and in. The windows are walnut, just like the originals, and are being built using donations from the public (our magazine has sponsored construction of one of the windows).

Inside the meeting house, the restored wainscot is also changing the feeling of the entire first floor. All in all, the structure is beginning to feel a lot like the Shaker Meeting House at Pleasant Hill, which I visited last week. The open space. The nice woodwork. The windows that look out over a pastoral scene.

This fall, we’ll be offering a guided tour of the White Water Shaker Village (which is not open to the public) for attendees of our Woodworking in America conference. We’ve chartered a bus to take about 50 attendees up to the village on the morning of Sunday, Oct. 3. The additional cost will be $15 , just enough to cover the bus rental.

While at the village, you’ll get a guided tour of many of the structures curated by the Friends of White Water Shaker Village, a non-profit group that is devoted to restoring the village outside Cincinnati and opening it to the public. The volunteers are incredibly knowledgeable about Shaker life, construction and furniture , they’ve taught us a lot during the last year.

If you are attending Woodworking in America and are interested in the tour of White Water, be sure to sign up for it when you register for the conference. Registration for Woodworking in America opens in early May at woodworkinginamerica.com. Space will be limited on this tour. If demand is strong we might charter a second bus, but two buses will be the maximum number of people we can manage on the grounds.

Neat, the bench below window adds to the Shaker look. Every american woodworker or collector should build or own at least one piece of Shaker. It’s the only known furniture form thats uniquely american. Absolutely stunning workmanship as well as design.